


Phantom: Healer

by heartforhire



Series: Phantom [2]
Category: Underfell - Alternate Universe, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Chara Is Their Own Warning, Collars, Flowey Is (Surprisingly) Not A Dick, Frisk Isn't A Cinnamon Roll Either, Genderfluid Frisk, Healing Magic, I'll Add Tags Later When My Brain Starts Working Again, Multi, Non-Binary Chara, Polyamory, ust everywhere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 04:48:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10983684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartforhire/pseuds/heartforhire
Summary: Rated Mature for language and darker themes.-Being Kind was hard.Being Kind in Underfell was like attempting to battle Sans without getting a single HP knocked off (impossible, he's just going to throw you around anyway).Being Kind in Underfell while being Nova is a death sentence.Oh well.That's just too bad then.





	1. Kindness In The Underground Is

**Author's Note:**

> For any one of you who may have decided to pop over to Watty to view the Underfell version of Phantom: Ashtray, I'm sorry to say that I did move it over here so you just wasted your time for nothing.
> 
> Whoops.
> 
> For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Phantom: Ashtray is the Underswap version of this.
> 
> …welp, I'm done.
> 
> -Kloe

Honestly, if Nova wasn't a Healer by Soul, she would've left the slowly dusting skeleton to die.

It really was too bad she was.

With a sigh, she scooped the pile of bones and magic into her arms, shifting the handle of her basket so that it rested in the crook of her elbow. Giving it a quick once-over, Nova decided it was a boy: the fluctuation of magic energy around him was unique to the male species. The skeleton groaned softly as she closed her eyes, performing a check.

**Sans**

**HP: 0.4/1**

**AT: 1**

**DF: 1**

***he's given up.**

Nova sighed before closing her eyes. Green light began to flood her hands, shining bright in her palms. Magical bandaids appeared, wrapping around the skeleton's mostly-dust-radius, locking in all the particles. The same happened for the his tibia.

"Honestly, you can't just give up in a place like this," sighed Nova as she closed her eyes. "It defeats the purpose of this world."

She knew the skeleton wouldn't answer, but she said it out loud anyway. It gave her some small comfort to watch her words turn to white vapor, drifting away on non-existent wind. Snowdin would always be cold, she would usually be warm, and her words would remain unheard. It was simple. Repetitive.

A sharp smile pulled at her lips as she began walking, carrying the unconscious skeleton while keeping the steady stream of glimmering green magic flowing. It was impersonal, only meant to keep things bound so that she could devote her full energy to pumping her subject full of positivity and Hope later.

She would give everything to heal, including her own mind.

But that was what Healers did in this world. They gave and they gave and they gave until there was nothing left to give. They poured out their mind, heart, and SOUL until they ran dry.

...she didn't want to be a Healer, down here or topside, but she never really had a choice, did she?

Just like she didn't have a choice in keeping this skeleton alive.

She glanced down at her passenger, eyes cold as they assessed his personal state. From what the flavor text granted to her by her SOUL said, the skeleton had given up Hope. His last tie had finally been broken. Something or the other had happened to the tie. Either it had died, attempted to kill him, or had done something to hurt him.

She was willing to bet it was the last, from the state his hoodie was in and the way a tattered collar hung around his vertebrae. The marks on the collar looked like they came from claws, similar to the ones that were hooked around the hem of her hoodie.

...she should do something to prevent him from harming himself or her further.

At that thought, her hair turned vivid green, smoke spilling from her mouth as she activated the other part to her magic. She locked his hands in that position, yellow-gray bone turning emerald green as her boundary magic worked on him.

As a Healer, she was more skilled with defensive magic than offensive, so her barriers were stronger than the small skeleton by a large margin. She knew there was another SOUL who could do it, but she was more focused on the vicious, offensive side of her nature.

Lucky.

Helping didn't get you too far in this world.

Not since the King had passed the "Kill Or Be Killed" mandate after Prince Asriel and Princess Chara died.

Shaking her head, Nova got rid of the thoughts. Thinking of Prince Asriel or Princet Chara out here was practically asking for a rogue Memoryhead. She couldn't have them preying on her charge's vulnerable memories. Her own were bad enough.

"Alright. Sans, we're here," she murmured, setting the skeleton down gently before locking him in place with her green magic. He still hadn't regained consciousness for the entire ten minute walk -- both a good and bad thing. It was good because if he wasn't awake, he couldn't gut her or himself. It was bad because, well, not waking up was a sign that she had to get her Kindness out of that deep, dark place it had hidden itself in, allow it to resonate with her SOUL, and start Healing.

Joys.

She took a step back to look over her home, making sure that it hadn't been spotted by nearby monsters. When she said look over, she meant it literally. Her home was underground, but there was a small path leading down to the series of caves she called her home. It was well-concealed, but there were times when random monsters stumbled in.

They were knocked out, the place removed from their memories with a few well timed bursts of Healing magic and sent on their way.

Of course, there were times when she needed to vent the excess artificial Determination she found corrupting her soul.

Then they just made Amalgamates or Memoryheads.

No one paid attention to monstrosities, she didn't get EXP, and she didn't have to kill.

It was a win-win solution, even if it was a bit... unethical.

When she had made sure that no one had found the path, she grabbed Sans gently and started walking down it, as if she had all the time in the world. Her magic sustained the skeleton as she moved through the series of interconnected caves, occasionally picking things up from the countertops she passed without dropping him. Two Cinnamon Bunnies, a few things of her own creation, and good old fashioned vodka.

Even if she didn't drink, Sans was going to need the buzz. It would keep him from thinking clearly while she stuffed him with healing magic and monster food, keep him from rejecting what she put into him.

She had depressed patient care down to an art.

After making sure the skeleton wouldn't fall apart without her touch, Nova placed him against the wall, green magic still active. She hated the taste of magical smoke, but she had to hold the pressure until she found the chains to keep him down. She found them rather quickly; they were still curled up next to the wall where she had kept them after she fell. After she escaped. Whatever you wanted to call it. They made a satisfying clinking noise as she picked them up, weight familiar in her hands. If she just thought back a little, she could remember how it felt when they swung through the air, a whirlwind of destruction with her at the center, the resistance of steel and b--

**_"No."_ **

Nova shook her head rapidly as the memories pushed at her conscious. Her hands tightened around the chain, searching for some pain, something to ground her.

It wasn't good to remember, especially not with memories like hers.

"You have a patient. Fix him," she reminded herself. For a heart stopping moment, she felt the magic she placed over him begin to falter.

"His magic presence is fighting mine... even while he's asleep."

A slow smile began to spread over her face. If his magic was fighting her confining magic, that meant that deep down, somewhere in a dark, hidden place, he truly didn't want to die. She would actually find some pre-existing purchase for her Healing magic instead of creating false ones that would crumble away before the idea that they shouldn't die was truly planted.

"Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought."

-

The guest announced his returning consciousness by coughing so loudly Nova could hear him from two caves away. Luckily, she didn't need to listen from that far, being in the same room to monitor his health. A tray of Cinnamon Bunnies lay beside her, ready to be fed to the skeleton when he woke.

"where the hell am i?" he snarled after he recovered from his fit. Nova smiled, relief taking over. Thank God.

"You're in my home," she said, walking closer to him. Green lights began to flicker in her hair, dancing like smoke through the dark brown strands. She could feel his own magic begin to act up in response, her smile widening with amusement as he realized his magic was currently locked inside him.

"the hell did yer do ta me?!" Sans hissed, eyelights guttering like a candle in the breeze before they changed. Red magic in the form of smoke escaped in wisps from his left eye, the other one completely gone. Nova raised her hands, palm towards him in a calming gesture.

"I simply prevented you from destroying my home and my SOUL as I healed you," she explained. She turned to the tray of Cinnamon Bunnies, walking towards the skeleton.

"healin' me?" Nova nodded, plucking a Bunny off the tray and holding it to the other monster's mouth. He stared at it distrustfully, making a Nova raise an eyebrow and magic dance across her hair with far more intensity than before.

"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" Her voice was quiet and calm, something that she knew would help with this situation. It had helped with others on the surface, the ones that didn't know her or her reputation but had to trust her anyway.

"...no. yer would've killed me if yer wanted ta hurt me," he said. His fixed smile turned ugly, making Nova want to flinch back. Damn, that looked angry.

"yer a pansy, just like that fucking flower."

Nova shrugged, not denying the skeleton's accusation. Walking closer to the chained monster, she tapped the food against his teeth. They glinted in the green light coming off her hair, the golden tooth turning a strange, almost tarnished color. That is, if gold could tarnish.

"Maybe I am. Right now, I'm just warning you: if you don't accept the food, I'm afraid I'll have to do some not very nice things."

With that, she pried his jaw open, stuck the Bunny in and promptly got bit in the hand by rather sharp teeth. (--fuck that felt nice--)

"Some rather sharp teeth you have there, Sans," remarked Nova conversationally as she brought her now Bunny-free hand to cup the skeleton's cheekbone. Her bitten hand stayed in the monster's mouth, groping around until it came in contact with the Bunny. Sans was gagging now, but Nova didn't stop.

"Eat the food, Sans," she murmured, voice low and soothing. "Eat the food."

There was a strangled growl from around her hand, but the food she was touching vanished into magic.

Nova smiled serenely, retrieving her hand and a cloth from the tray. She had anticipated something like this happening, so she already had a sanitizing cloth ready on the tray to wipe off all the ectoplasmic saliva.

"Good boy, Sans," she hummed. Her now clean hand reached for the glass of water on the tray, raising to her eye level.

"fuck yer."

Nova didn't miss a beat with her reply, still staring at the glass of water intensely.

"Buy me dinner first."

She heard a choking noise that was most definitely not from food. Victory.

"the fuck is wrong with yer?" Nova cast the skeleton a sharp glance, eyes darkening like thunderclouds.

"Many, many things, Sans." She sighed, running her faintly cinnamon-scented fingers through her dark hair. "But my problems are not the reason why you're chained to a wall right now, are they?"

Sans was in for a long night.


	2. Hard

"Hello, Sans," she greeted, walking into the room. He eyed her with mistrust, staring at the bottle of vodka in her hand.

"what's that for?" he growled, jerking his head at the bottle. Nova smiled, lifting the bottle up.

"Oh, I thought you might enjoy some alcohol."

_I'm not going to be able to force him to accept the food like I did last time. Oh well. Looks like he's getting buzzed,_ were her thoughts when she had popped in to stare at his form about thirty seconds ago. She had guessed he liked vodka, and picked the worst one of the batch to give.

She wasn't going to waste alcohol any time soon, even if it was vodka.

"...what's yer brand?"

Bingo.

She smiled, not having to look at the golden label on the bottle to reply. It was only two words and a year to remember, after all.

"Ice Twist. XX90."

Sans didn't waste a beat before scoffing. Nova's smile widened at his obvious disgust of the brand. Perfect.

"yer taste sucks, doll."

She was going to have fun with this.

"Only the worst for you, Sans." Her smile was saccharine sweet as she tilted her head innocently. A soft clink sounded as she put the bottle by her boots, a rustle of cloth joining it as she sat by it.

"what're yer doin'?" asked Sans, wary. Nova hummed as she examined her nails, nibbling on a broken piece of a Cinnamon Bun she had pulled from her Dimensional Box.

"don't ignore me, doll. yer not gonna like it when i get out of these." The statement was punctuated by a rattle of chains, swiftly ignored by Nova. The gentle humming continued as she crossed her legs in front of her, enjoying the freezing feel of the stone on her thinly stocking clad legs.

**"d o l l."**

Dang, that voice was hot.

She couldn't stop the fine tremor that ran down her spine in reaction, and when she looked back up at her patient, she couldn't hold back the sweep of her tongue over her painted lips as she met the skeleton's eyelights.

Even chained, he managed to look menacing, just the way she liked it.

And judging by his sudden smirk, he saw that.

Joys.

"what is it, doll?" His voice had lowered to a purr, and she would be lying if she said it wasn't making her excited.

She would also be lying if she said that she didn't throw a Cinnamon Bunny inbetween his teeth before he could finish whatever he was about to say.

Nova couldn't have her patient getting too frisky with her, no matter how sexy he was.

It was against her rules.

Shaking her head at herself, she stood and grasped the bottle by the neck, popping off the top with practiced ease. Monster alcohol opened slightly differently than the other alcohols she had experience with, but after a couple years, she was able to do it without a glance down at the bottle.

"Hush. You're still a patient. You don't get me," Nova said, lifting the bottle of vodka to the skeleton's grin. "Now open."

When he didn't, Nova sighed and turned around, walking back to her previous spot on the floor.

"Fine. We're doing this the hard way, then." She sighed, opening her mouth and waterfalling a little into her mouth. If he was going to choose to be an uncooperative bastard, she'd need it.

"what's the hard way, doll?"

Shit. He was still doing his voice.

Nova gave him a dirty glare, taking another waterfall.

"I take a drink and transfer it to you. Painful for both of us, considering your entire form is based off your magic."

Sans' eyelights blinked out. She expected that as soon as she mentioned transference. It didn't really have the best rep. Something that tore at magic until it bled to insert itself wasn't really something to play around with.

"why do yer need me to drink that shit so badly?" he asked, staring at her with voided sockets. Nova shrugged.

"I need to get you buzzed. I'm not going to interrogate you because I have absolutely no use for any information you'd give me, I only want you buzzed," she reassured upon seeing his magic flare in his left eye. It took a few seconds before it dissipated, returning to its previous blank blackness.

"why?"

Nova snickered. The skeleton stared at her, anger clouding his magic like dye in water. She could feel the Intent to Kill pooling in him, making her slightly wary.

"Why seems to be the question of the day, doesn't it?" she asked, eyes sharp as they flickered over the chains to make sure that he hadn't loosened them in any way. He hadn't. They looked perfectly normal, if a bit tight. It wouldn't cut off his magical circulation in any way other than outward output though. She was good enough to ensure that.

"answer the fucking question."

Oooh, he was pissed off.

"It's easier to treat patients who've got a nice buzz to their bones, you know?" she said, smile stretching wide across her face. Sans scoffed.

"that's bullshit."

Nova's grin disappeared like it was never there.

"It's not. Now open your mouth, or I transfer." She waited for a moment before her hair caught with green fire. Emerald smoke began drifting out of her mouth. She had a feeling he was going to stop her, but he needed something to stop first. Her magic slowly reached out to his, and just as he felt the first tug--

"wait!"

There it was.

She smiled victoriously, adding so much sugar to it that it was unpleasant to wear. Walking over to the skeleton, she stared up into his eye sockets. Vaguely, she felt slightly annoyed that not even her heels could bring her up to his height, but she pushed that to the back of her mind as she held the bottle of liquor to his now open mouth.

"Good boy." 

He growled against the bottle at the words, but she could see what looked like a faint smattering of red against his cheekbones. She frowned internally. He had been tainted by the false Determination.

What a shame.

After judging that he had enough for one chug, she pulled the bottle back and gave him time to swallow the liquid in his mouth. 

"I'll give you the entire bottle, just to make sure that you're more than a little tipsy." Her smile switched to a smirk as she stared at the skeleton. "I can tell that's leagues below your limit, so don't give me any bullshit about that being shiftaced when you finish this."

To shut the skeleton up before he could say anything back, she put the bottle to his mouth again. This time, she kept it there until the liquid in the bottle had diminished to half before pulling away. She had been a bit too early to pull away with her previous attempt, judging by his ability to speak immediately.

It continued like that until the bottle was over. She quickly CHECKed him, getting a flavor text of ***It'll work.**

Perfect.

Opening the Dimensional Box that was connected to her phone, she pulled out three CinnaBunnies, feeding them to the skeleton slowly. Since he was in a pleasant, happy daze from the monster alcohol, he accepted the food and it turned to magic almost immediately, flooding to restore his bones to normal. The yellow in his bones slowly started to fade more to white. 

Huh. That was interesting. His bones didn't need brushing like human teeth did in order to stay white. It all depended on his health.

Lucky little bastard.

After about four CinnaBunnies, she stepped back and began channeling healing basic to her fingertips. Her SOUL pulsed with Kindness and sleepiness, forcing the already drowsy skeleton to sleep. Honestly, monster alcohol was the Deus Ex Machina of healing. It made patients more happy, honest and sleepy while acting as a mild anesthetic. 

Too bad human alcohol didn't do the same.

Bone started to mend under her fingertips, green glow surrounding the whole bone as the magic making it up began to strengthen. Even though the bone wasn't dusted or leaking marrow, it was incredibly weak from the action of Giving Up. So weak that if she knocked it the wrong way with the right Intent, it would return to dust.

Nova hummed as she worked, allowing her SOUL to resonate with the trait that give it the color. It wasn't her best work, seeing as she was working on low magic stores from draining the false Determination that had accumulated in her SOUL. She was not going to let the green be sullied. 

Her magic stuttered, making her blink and refocus on her patient and Intent.

She would not let him dust so quickly after leaving her.

What kind of Healer would she be then?

**Author's Note:**

> Funny. 
> 
> I had this written out before I even started on my Undertale one.
> 
> …I should really write the original Nova into existence, shouldn't I?
> 
> -Kloe


End file.
